True Crime with Kimbyr - PART 2 Model Murdered After a Night Out Alone - The Tragic Case of Christina Carlin-Kraft | True Crime

Episode Date: December 21, 2025

In TRUE CRIME WITH KIMBYR, Kimbyrleigha continues the investigation into the tragic murder of Christina Carlin-Kraft. Part 2 delves deeper into the evidence, suspect theories, and crucial details that emerged after her death. As timelines tighten and motives are examined, unsettling questions surface about who knew Christina’s movements and why justice has been so elusive. With empathy and careful analysis, TRUE CRIME WITH KIMBYR seeks clarity, accountability, and answers in a case that still haunts those who followed it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the detectives brought Christina's 2016 arrest to Alex. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29. Don't pass go and own it all.

Only at Yamava, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Details at Yamava.com must be. 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. He explained that they went to court and they made a deal with the prosecutor to drop all the charges against Christina if she agreed to stay out of trouble for six months. Christina then relocated to Philadelphia the year after the incident. Alex wanted to protect Christina and he felt like she was safer and ard more than she would be in the city. Because if she needed anything while he was working in New York, he could constantly.

his parents who lived nearby in Philadelphia. But while Christina's life in Ardmore was going okay, she missed the hustle and bustle of the city. Although Christina lived in a beautiful community, she struggled to adjust to the suburban lifestyle. Christina had grown accustomed to the city's convenience and energy, and the quiet suburban lifestyle just couldn't compare. She found there were fewer things to do and fewer people to meet in the suburbs, so adjusting

was hard. And even though she lived a distance away, she was just. she would frequently still party in the city. And then, of course, the detective stumbled upon Christina's Playboy debut as a cyber girl. And it didn't take long for the media to latch on to that aspect of this case. Her murder became nationwide news with an emphasis on her history with Playboy. That made for eye-catching headlines, even though it is true. It's also a small fraction of her life.

And we know there was so much more to who she was. but it's still a fact. And it was also something she had always been proud of. It's too bad. It had to be memorialized for such a morbid reason now. But detectives found Christina's model mayhem account as well. That was a popular site back in the day where models could showcase their work

and attempt to connect with brands. Think of it like LinkedIn for modeling. In her About Me section, she wrote that she's 5'9, 125 pounds with dark brown hair and an olive complexion with green eyes. She wrote that she was from Russian and German descent with a hint of Swedish, and she's interested in fashion, editorial, print, glamour, advertisements, lingerie, swim, commercials, movies, etc. She also mentioned doing runway shows, print work, commercials for jewelry, and evening gowns. And in her words, she did a, quote, tasteful photo shoot for Playboy that was beyond Hollywood glamour, end quote.

Maybe she was trying to downplay it at the time. making sure it was known that she at least landed the gig, and she was recognized by such a big brand, but not really going into the details of what she actually was chosen for. But days before Christina was found lifeless in her bedroom, the investigators were trying to piece together who this unknown man was who robbed her. Some investigators were examining Christina's credit card statements,

while others analyzed CCTV footage. While investigating Christina's credit card usage, the investigators noticed that someone had used her cards, at convenience stores nearby on the night they were stolen. It was confirmed that the man who used Christina's credit cards was the same one they saw break into her apartment after viewing the store's CCTV footage. Thankfully, the police were able to identify this man.

And that was because he had previous arrests. His name was Andre Melton. He had a previous arrest record and was considered dangerous. Knowing that Andre had a violent streak, police quickly obtained a search warrant for his home and an arrest warrant for him for burglary. On the morning of Wednesday the 22nd of August, just hours before Christina was found,

police had actually gone over to Andre's home to execute that search warrant. Unfortunately, while they did find thousands of dollars of items that had been stolen from Christina's apartment, including designer bags, jewelry, keys, even the title to a BMW, there was no sign of Andre himself. But they knew that Andre knew exactly

where Christina lived and how to get into our apartment. Had he gone back to try to get more things, and maybe he was concerned about leaving a witness behind that could identify him. Either way, police needed to find Andre. There was now an added urgency to the robbery investigation because we're talking about murder now. Meanwhile, Christina's autopsy report comes back

from medical examiner Kalil Wardak. It turned out, Christina had 22 bones broken in her face with significant bruising, But her cause of death was determined to be from ligature strangulation. Someone had put something around Christina's neck. And of course, the manner of death was ruled a homicide. I cannot imagine someone doing that to someone. She was hit over and over again.

It's unbelievable. So now, while hunting down this thief, detectives continued to scour through hours and hours of surveillance footage because they have a violent person that they have. need to catch. They searched frame by frame of footage until they found something. It was Christina, leaving her apartment in the early morning hours on the day she was found dead. Christina left the building alone. But a little while later, around 3 a.m., there she is again. But this time, she's not alone. She's walking arm in arm with an unknown man. The man has the same complexion

as Andre. He's a black male around the same age, maybe in his 30s. He's wearing a white do rag a leather jacket and white jeans, but it actually doesn't appear to be Andre. This man and Christina walk into the apartment building a little while after three in the morning around 308 a.m. Christina's door opens and the security system recorded that time, but then no other doors are detected being open on Christina's security system until 5.19 a.m. when the system recorded that the door to the balcony closed. Christina's apartment is considered a first floor apartment, but if you look closely, the first floor appears to begin on what would normally be considered the second story of the building. The investigators believed the perpetrator could have escaped by jumping over her balcony.

It's not that far of a drop. And this is because neither one of them are seen leaving or walking back out the front door. Whatever happened after they entered that apartment building will leave one person dead and the other, the subject of a nationwide manhunt. Thankfully, the security footage of Christina and this mysterious man was incredible. It was of high quality. And in a lot of cases like these, the footage is so grainy and distorted that it fails to fulfill its intended purpose, but not this time. The footage was very clear, thanks to high-tech CCTV being installed in this newer building. Officials had detailed snapshots to send out to the media in hopes that someone somewhere would know something. They also distributed footage of Andre, hoping that someone might be able to pinpoint where he might be hiding out.

At this point, police had no way of knowing whether Andre and this other man were somehow connected. Maybe they had conspired to rob Christina again, and things took a turn for the worst. At this point, even more news stations were talking about the Playboy model that had been murdered in her fancy apartment. It's just the type of salacious story that's made for headline gold. So news companies kept running with it.

While the media circus systematically dehumanized Christina and reduced her to just a Playboy model, It did have one positive effect. It helped the police garner more useful information. On the 23rd of August, just one day after the murder, a detective working on the case received a phone call. It was Andre Melton himself. It seemed like Andre had seen his picture circulating

in connection with a gruesome homicide, and he said he wanted to set the record straight. He told detectives that, yes, he robbed Christina on the morning of the 18th of August, but he had nothing to do with her murder, and he wasn't going to go down for something he didn't do. He wasn't going to hand himself over to a police as requested because he didn't want to be charged with her murder.

I don't know if Andre genuinely thought the police was just going to take his word for it and stop going after him, but it's actually the opposite of what happened. Officers did not let up on searching for him. They continued to investigate the identity of the other man as well that had been caught on surveillance. They suspected that Andre could have given Christina's address to a friend, and set her up for another robbery. But soon enough, the publicity that this case was getting paid off.

Everyone was talking about this horrible murder. And when people talk, even when it's gossip, there's often some truth to be found in between the lines. So police received a tip from a key witness. The man was an Uber driver who claimed that he had driven Christina and the man on the CCTV footage back to her apartment that night. The driver said that when Christina and the man entered,

his car, neither one of them looked distressed or under duress. To the contrary in his mind, they looked to him like lovers on a date. They were affectionate and happy. The driver said that Christina actually flagged him down instead of using the app and begged him to please let them inside even though you're really supposed to use the app so it can keep track of everything. Christina told the driver she needed to ride home because there were people in the street harassing her. She promised to give the driver cash when they returned to her apartment. So he let them into his car in city center and drove them all the way back to Ardmore, which is about a 40-minute drive.

However, when it was time to pay, Christina told the driver she didn't have cash on her. She tried to hand her American Express card over to the driver, but he explained because she didn't use the app, he did not have a way to receive payment with a card. Eventually, the man she was riding with offered to give the driver, $100 if he waited outside the apartment for 15 minutes or so while he went inside to get some money and make sure Christina got in safe. The man even promised that when he came out, he would give the driver $100 as a tip and still give him the rest of the money. It was not a good situation to be in and the driver knew he could be getting swindled, but he didn't feel like he had much of a choice.

So they even exchanged numbers and then he waited outside of the apartment and waited and waited and waiting. and waited and as the minutes went by, this man had still not come back out. So after close to 30 minutes had gone by and the man did not return to the car after walking Christina inside, the driver eventually cut his losses and drove away. Now, as helpful as the statement was,

it still left police without one key piece of information. The identity of the man that Christina was with. Police wouldn't have to wait long before they received another call, though, that would put them one step closer, to finding out who this mystery man really was. On October 26, they receive a call from someone who claims to have been roommates with the man in the photos that was splashed all over the news. Except when I say roommates, this wasn't your typical roommate situation.

The person said they had recently shared a room with this man in a psychiatric facility in Philadelphia, and this was just a few days ago. The mystery man had landed himself in the psychiatric ward after harassing a woman in Philadelphia. He allegedly kicked her while he was in Center City Family Court, and he was sanctioned to a 72-hour psychiatric hold. As the caller recounted everything he knew about this person,

he told the detectives about a disturbing conversation they had. The caller said that the man had gleefully told him how he strangled a woman to death, and that there was, quote, nothing like squeezing somebody and feeling the last breath leave their body." End quote. He said it was the best feeling in the world. Wow.

So clearly, whoever this guy was, he needed to be stopped before some other unsuspecting person fell victim to his sordid plans. The caller had spent time in this regulated institution with this man, so there had to be a record of his identity, right? It was actually a shock when they discovered. that the man had been admitted to the ward under John Doe. No legal name was given. And worse yet, he had already been discharged by the time the police got there.

They missed this person that was heavily suspected as Christina's killer by just a few days, perhaps even hours. At this point to detectives, this case might have started to feel like an extended game of cat and mouse. They were just chasing their tails. Four days, they had poured over everything they had. in this investigation. They were working late hours, just getting enough sleep to keep themselves somewhat functional. And still, they didn't have that vital piece of information. And Christina's family was a mess. They were desperate for answers while they were also trying to paint Christina

in a way better light than the media had. Her loved ones wanted the public to know, Christina was more than just a Playboy model. Her aunt, Angelique Carlin, said, quote, she was the sweetest girl, loving, kind, generous, and thoughtful. Those are the things I will miss about her. She also, of course, wanted to know how this happened and why. And it's true. We don't know Christina,

and the media will latch on to the bad or the most interesting facts about someone that they like to party, they pose nude, like to get into brawls at bars. But if we were to have a magnifying glass, put to each of our lives, there's bound to be something we're not proud of. That doesn't define.

define an entire person. Her father told a daily mail that Christina was, quote, a happy go lucky lady. She loved life. She loved to be around people. And she liked to enjoy herself with people. And that's what I think occurred. I think that someone saw her happiness and took advantage of that, end quote. But at this point, the investigation looked like it was going to stall. However, on the 29th of August, just one week after Christina was found, they got their break. This was ironically, the very same day as Christina's funeral. The 36-year-old was brought back to New Jersey, and her service was held at Venter Church.

Her father, Stuart, greeted mourners outside the church after the service. Christina's body was carried by pallbearers in a white casket and placed in a hearse adorned with flowers. She was later buried at Laurel Memorial Park in Ake Harbor Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey. And like I said, that same day, the police received a call from someone who claimed to be a family member of the man on the CCTV footage. They thought this had to be it. They were finally going to be able to catch their man.

Well, yes and no. The family member had the man's name, but the police would have to figure out how to catch him on their own. He was identified as 31-year-old Jonathan Wesley Harris, a person who had a felony record and had been released from prison on robbery and drug charges just five weeks before Christina's murder. Now that the police had a name, they knew it was just a matter of time before they found Jonathan and finally were able to put all the pieces of this puzzle together. With nothing else to go on but some old school detective work, the investigator started to unravel the mystery of where Jonathan could be. They called friends, acquaintances, family members, anyone who might know anything and was brave enough to come forward.

And eventually, police spoke to Jonathan's sister. And it was after speaking to her that they got their answer. She told detectives that Jonathan had left Philadelphia. In fact, he was on a bus headed straight to Pittsburgh. With this information and no more time to lose, detectives contacted authorities in Pittsburgh and let them know a potential killer was headed to their city. He was violent and dangerous and needed to be apprehended as soon as possible.

Using Jonathan Harris's photo and his criminal history, Pittsburgh officers formed a fugitive task force to better understand and prepare themselves for what they were up against. And despite having a significant criminal record, Jonathan Harris was never charged with anything like murder. He was, of course, convicted of things like forcible entry and drug trafficking. Pittsburgh Task Force members made their way to the bus station to try to intercept him. The authorities had an approximate time for when the bus would arrive.

Now they just had to wait. They had surrounded the bus station and blocked all the exits to make sure there was no escape for their suspect. And eventually they heard the rumble of the bus as it made its way into the station, and authorities watched as the bus slowed to a stop, and the doors opened, and out walked the very first passenger. It was not their guy. Following closely behind the first was another, but again, not the man they were looking for. But finally, a man stepped out of the bus, and as soon as the light hit his face, authorities knew that was the person they were searching for. He was the third person to step onto that platform,

and police jumped into action and ordered Jonathan to place his hands against the wall. And for a brief moment, it looked like he might make a run for it. But in the end, he was arrested and taken into custody. Now, detectives had the who. They were reasonably certain that Jonathan had killed Christina. They had the where because they finally had Jonathan in custody, but they needed the why.

How did Jonathan and Christina know each other in the first place? They seemed to be having a great night together until they entered her apartment. So what happened in those few short hours that could possibly end up with Christina dead and Jonathan on the run? When they showed him a picture of Christina and asked how he knew her, he claimed he'd seen Christina while out on the town and decided to strike up a conversation. They discussed how lonely she was in the suburbs and how she missed the party atmosphere that the city offered. The two of them hit it off and they were both under the influence, of drugs and alcohol according to him. So they decided to head back to Christina's apartment

to keep the party going after the bars began to close. Jonathan said he'd been providing Christina with party favors that night in the form of as much cocaine as she wanted, with her allegedly promising to pay him for it once they got to replace. But once inside, Jonathan claimed they drank a couple bottles of wine, used some more cocaine, and then had consensual sex. However, according to Jonathan, remember, there had been some sort of agreement that Christina

would pay for the drugs that she used that night. He said once their rendezvous was over, Jonathan said, Christina refused to pay the $1,200 worth of drugs. At first, a verbal argument ensued where Christina allegedly told Jonathan that he was his decision to give her the drugs and she wasn't going to pay for it after the fact. And she had hid his cocaine. He didn't know where it was. When Jonathan didn't agree to those terms, he said the argument escalated and Christina picked

up a wine bottle and smashed it against his head and his ear started bleeding. While she kept screaming for him to get out. Now after this happened, he claimed they did get physical with one another, but he did not kill her. He said he slapped her in the face and she fell to the floor in the hallway of her apartment and he left. According to him, when he left her apartment, she was still alive, just very intoxicated. Well, this story does seem plausible.

There are just a few things wrong with it. First, Christina did not have any drugs in her system when she was found. Her toxicology report only found alcohol in her body. Secondly, if he did not kill her, then who had done so on the exact same night they fought? Detectives let Jonathan know they weren't buying his account of the story. They got up from the table, they left the room,

thinking that maybe if he just had a few minutes to gather his thoughts. He might be inspired to tell them the truth. One can only imagine the overwhelming emotions and thoughts that are flooding through a person's mind in a moment like this. There he was, and a cold, dark room having to deal with the fact that he might spend the rest of his life in a cold, dark room not too dissimilar to the one he was currently in. He must have known the gig was up. He'd been through this before. It wasn't his first rodeo. He had hidden, ran, lied and it had all been futile because there he was. There was nothing for him to do but tell the truth. Those few minutes alone on his own most certainly stirred up something in him because when the

investigators came back, Jonathan told a story that was a bit closer to what might have actually been the truth. He admitted that he and Christina had a physical altercation over drug money. He claimed they used $1,200 worth of his cocaine which she expected her to pay for. But she thought, in his mind, she thought having sex with him was enough. And he said he slapped her in the face and she fell to the floor.

Then he said he picked her up, walked her into the bedroom and put her on the bed. At that point, he said he was panicking. She was naked and he had white pants on. I'm guessing he's saying he did not want to get blood on himself. And then he said she was trying to recover from the blow he delivered to her. When she recovered, she began to see.

scream at the top of her lungs. So what did he do? He punched her in the face and begged her to be quiet. He told her he punched her in the face and begged her to be quiet. He said he told her he didn't want to hurt her, but then when he punched her, she got quiet and she kind of went unconscious. And as she was laying on the bed, he tied her hands up with a pair of pajama pants. He tied her to the bed so she couldn't hit him back. He said at that point she was acting pretty reasonable and he told her he was just scared and wanted to leave. He did eventually untie her, but he explained that he thought she was cooperating, but she was pretending. She jumped up the bed and tried to run to the front door, so he grabbed her and threw her back on the bed and then

started beating her in the face over and over again, this time hitting her harder with the intention of making her unconscious. She finally did pass out. And then he went looking for his cocaine, which he said he found inside a jewelry box. When asked what Christina was doing at that point, he said she was on the bed, bleeding profusely, and he was now looking for money, but didn't find any. And he was panicking because she was breathing funny, his words. She was on the bed, breathing funny. These are all his words.

He said he didn't know if he should just burn the house down or what. But he turned her over on her stomach, and he was on. blood was coming out of her mouth, and she actually allegedly spoke to him, saying, I'm fine. I just want to call my father. Jonathan obliged. He went to go get her phone from the living room and handed it over to her. But Christina wasn't calling her dad. She was trying to call for help. She was in fear for her life, and she managed to punch in one number, the number nine. Jonathan said he panicked when he saw that she was trying to call the police, so we snatched the phone away from her before she could press one, one.

He took the phone and threw it. And that's when he says in his panic state of mind, he began choking her and pushing her on the bed. And when he let go of her, he swears, he still saw her breathing, but she wasn't fighting anymore. Then he covered her body with a sheet because he didn't want to look at what he had done. Then he stole some of her clothes,

presumably to change into them because his were blood soaked, blood soaked and then he made his exit. Jonathan was never seen exiting the apartment because he said he took a different route altogether. Christina's apartment was on that second story and around 5 a.m. the sliding door was open and Jonathan jumped out and ran away just as investigators had suspected. As brutal as this crime was, Jonathan maintained that it was never his intention to hurt Christina. He said, quote, I panicked. I was scared. I didn't know what to do. I covered her with a blanket because I didn't want to want to see her like that. I knew she was hurt, really bad."

And quote. Jonathan also claimed that he was under the influence of some pretty heavy drugs that night, which were responsible for altering his behavior. He admitted to killing Christina, but pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, saying that this was in no way premeditated. At trial, Jonathan and his attorneys did not deny that he had choked Christina to death. Their entire defense was that Jonathan did not go into that apartment that night with the intention to murder Christina and thus a first-degree murder charge was too harsh. They asked a jury to find him guilty of third-degree murder instead, which carried a much lighter prison sentence. And sure, this argument seems to make sense until you think about the fact that, number one,

Jonathan bragged about the feeling of choking the life out of someone when he met that roommate at the psychiatric facility. And of course, there's the fact that he could have run away. And he didn't come forward even when the story broke in the news. At any point, he could have told the police what happened, but he chose to try to get away with it. He didn't have to kill Christina at all. He could have left her tied up, or even just fled after he punched her the first time or pushed her. But he went many steps further by beating her and choking her to death. Christina thought for her life until the end. Jonathan could have stopped the attack. There was ample time for him to cool down, come to his senses, and make a different choice.

A choice that wouldn't have stolen a young woman's life and left her family in a state of sadness and distress. The jury must have had the same sentiments because they found him guilty of first-degree murder, as well as kidnapping, possession of an instrument of a crime and strangulation. Reporters watch from the gallery as Jonathan processed this verdict. In the end, when it came time for Jonathan to reveal, what he thought about the verdict? He simply said, quote,

justice was served, end quote. And I think he's right. When it was time for Christina's fiance to give his victim impact statement, Alex addressed Jonathan calling him a coward and said, quote, you killed a kind, loving, generous, amazing person who is sorely missed by everyone every day.

You destroyed the lives of so many people and inflicted needless pain on our family and your family. family and for what?" And quote. Alex went on to talk about Christina's murder has devastated her family. He said the fact that Jonathan lied about Christina doing cocaine or even wanting to buy drugs from him and just drag her name through the mud was hurtful. She had no drugs in her system.

Alex said Christina had never once used cocaine as long as he knew her and we know that he knew her over 14 years. Jonathan received an automatic sentence of life in prison. without the possibility of parole. He also received an additional 22 and a half to 45 years for other charges. And as for Andre, you know Christina's burglar? He was eventually caught in December of 2018 and arrested on unrelated charges, but later found guilty of burglary, receiving stolen property, theft by unlawful taking and criminal trespassing.

Christina's family reiterated that she was more than just a model. a model. She was kind and she had warmth that drew people to her. She never left her side without telling you she loved you and she loved animals. She also loved her dad so much so that in her final moments he was the one she thought of calling. In Stewart's victim impact statement, Christina's dad, he described her as quote, the brightest light that ever lived. And even though her life may have been cut short, that light lives on in the hearts of the countless people who loved her. end quote. I'm personally so sorry to Christina's family and her loved ones, and my hope and message to all of you is to please be careful. I know that life can be dull and it can be lonely at times and we want a

taste of adventure and fun, but please always go out with someone else and use the buddy system, not leaving anyone behind. We just saw what could happen with the Riley Strain case. A fun vacation with tons of friends turns deadly if they decide to stay out and not accompany someone home. Look out for others because you never know what can happen. When we're drinking, we are in a way more vulnerable state of mind, especially when we're all alone. Thank you so much for being here for Christina's story. I will see you in my next video. Bye.